Avatars, and the carbon-based meatbags behind them (that's us)

What a beautiful series of portraits in this weekend's NYT magazine by Robbie Cooper — people and their avatars, in virtual environments such as Second Life and Everquest. About the image shown here:

NAME Jason Rowe
BORN 1974
OCCUPATION None
LOCATION Crosby, Tex.
AVATAR NAME Rurouni Kenshin
AVATAR CREATED 2003
GAME PLAYED Star Wars Galaxies
HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 80
CHARACTER TYPE Human marksman, rifleman
SPECIAL ABILITIES Ranged weapon specialization

Link.

This one may be the real stunner of the set.

Also, don't miss this recent NYT feature on "The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer," by Julian Dibbell: Link.

Update: Whups, my blog-mate Cory Doctorow already posted a review of the book this feature was based on, last month: Link to that May 8 post. I think I was motorboating around in the Amazon with satellite modems and banana-bark canoes or some such crap on that day. Apologies.

Update 2: Adam Bailey of the Portland Art Center says,

After seeing your post about Robbie Cooper's "Alter Ego: Avatars and their Creators" in the New York Times, I thought you should know that we are currently showing his work this month at the Portland Art Center. It's part of the PLATFORM International Animation Festival and it's really something to see in person. The show along with incredible original drawings by Basil Wolverton (curated by Kenny Scharf), will remain up until the 29th of this month.

Whups 2: My blog-mate Pesco also posted a link to a New Scientist slideshow from the book: Link.